Applying Provincial Policies - Procurement Services

How to Comply
Resources
Frequently Asked Questions

The Ontario government has established the Building Ontario Businesses Initiative Act (BOBIA) and the U.S. Procurement Restrictions Policy.

How to Comply

These policies do not override the university’s requirement to engage in Competitive Procurement (ex: receiving competing quotations or engaging in Open Competitive procurement where required by the university Procurement Policy).

Buy from a Vendor of Record (VOR), Qualified Supplier List (QSL) or Standing Offer: if your goods or services are covered under an existing VOR, QSL, or Standing Offer, you can proceed with your purchase. These pre-existing arrangements comply with the Provincial Policies, regardless of the Vendor’s location.
Buy from an Ontario Business: Vendors that have represented that they are an Ontario Business as defined by BOBIA are indicated in eShop (look for the ). See the BOBIA web page for more information on demonstrating compliance, and what to do if your Vendor has not been confirmed as an Ontario Business.
Buy from a non-Ontario Business
1. Vendors that have represented that they are not a U.S. Business as defined by the U.S. Procurement Restriction Policy are indicated in eShop (look for the ). You must still comply with BOBIA by giving preference to Ontario Businesses or demonstrating an exemption.
2. Document an Approved Exemption: if a U.S. Business is the only viable option AND the procurement cannot be delayed, complete a U.S. Business Justification form. The form must be completed in full, in accordance with the approval thresholds in the university’s Procurement Policy.

Resources

Non-competitive Procurements: Business Representation form
Invitational competitive Procurements: Invitation to Quote
U.S. Business Justification form

Frequently Asked Questions

Business Representations: Who qualifies as an “Authorized Agent”?: Both the Business Representation Form and the Invitation to Quote Cover Sheet include a Vendor Acknowledgement that must be signed by an Authorized Agent. For the purpose of these forms, the Authorized Agent is anyone in the Vendor’s organization who has signing authority on documents of this nature. This will vary based on each Vendor’s internal policies.

Invitation to Quote (ITQ): I did not receive the required number of Quotes by the Respond By date.: The Total Procurement Value of your purchase dictates the minimum number of Quotes required for your procurement process. If you did not receive a reply from enough Vendors by your Reply By date (Invitation to Quote Cover Sheet, Section 4.1), contact us at ProcurementServices@carleton.ca for support and direction.

Invitation to Quote (ITQ): I completed my ITQ process and none of the Quotes I received are from an Ontario Business.

The Building Ontario Businesses Initiative Act requires that you give preference to Ontario Businesses for purchases under the Open Competitive procurement threshold.

Unless your purchase falls into an exemption (for example, the goods are services are not available from an Ontario Business), you must invite at least one Ontario Business to quote. It’s possible that you will need to invite more than the minimum number of Vendors to quote as required by the Procurement Policy in order to satisfy BOBIA.

If you know at least one Vendor that was invited to quote is an Ontario Business based on a previous representation but they do not return a Quote by the Respond By date, contact us at ProcurementServices@carleton.ca for support and direction.

HINT: Vendors which have previously represented their status as an Ontario Business will be indicated with in eShop.

I previously completed an Open Competitive procurement, and am receiving goods or services through the resulting Agreement. How do I demonstrate compliance?

If you worked with Procurement Services to complete an Open Competitive procurement process and your resulting Agreement is still valid, you will be able to provide that information as part of your eShop Purchase Requisition for both Provincial Policies (Building Ontario Businesses Initiative Act, U.S. Procurement Restriction Policy).

Need help? Email us at ProcurementServices@carleton.ca.

I am seeking a Limited Tendering Exception – how do I demonstrate compliance with Provincial Policies?

The Competitive Procurement requirements and applicable Limited Tendering Exceptions are separate from the Provincial Policies.

Building Ontario Businesses Initiative Act: If you are seeking a Limited Tendering Exception for purchases under the Open Competitive procurement threshold, you must also comply with BOBIA by either purchasing from an Ontario Business or demonstrating a BOBIA exemption.
U.S. Procurement Restriction Policy: There is an additional U.S. Business Justification form required if your purchase is being made from a U.S. Business and you are seeking a Limited Tendering Exception.

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